Summer Guide 2019: Where to Eat and Drink Outside in the Midlands

Fresh Air

By 4:15 p.m. on a sunny Thursday, the rooftop of Hendrix has 24 people on it, with more arriving by the minute. By 5 p.m., it’ll be pretty much be full.

The Main Street restaurant opened in January, serving higher end bistro fare given a Peruvian flair by its chef, Javier Uriarte. The second-floor bar features plenty of smart craft cocktail influence. But as the weather has warmed, it’s the third-floor party porch that’s become the main attraction for many.

“That was something that really attracted us to the space was the roof is 2,400 square feet,” owner Jon Sears says. “To be able to get a rooftop space that large — there’s nothing else really like that in Columbia.”

For years, you could count the area’s truly deluxe outdoor drinking spaces on one hand: Jake’s patio and yard, Carolina Ale House’s roof overlooking the Vista, the criminally underutilized Sheraton Rooftop bar, a few others.

But increasingly, it seems Columbians are able to indulge their love for eating and drinking outdoors.

Breweries have led the charge, perhaps because they recognize more than anyone the allure of drinking outside. It has a similar mystique to the Shower Beer: You have an alcoholic beverage somewhere you don’t normally have an alcoholic beverage, and it feels special. Plus, combine fresh air and mood-elevating sunshine with alcohol, and you really have something.

River Rat Brewery has dumped resources into its outdoor spaces, most recently into a slick rooftop space with views of Williams Brice Stadium. The Curtiss Wright Hangar, home to Hunter-Gatherer’s production brewery, has big garage doors all around that roll up, and a rooftop space overlooking the runway at the adjacent commuter airport. Steel Hands, the new Cayce brewery, is an outdoor mecca.

And Scott Burgess, founder of Bierkeller Columbia, has made outdoor drinking the entire basis of his brewery service model. Though it pops up on the occasional tap around town, Bierkeller’s traditional German lagers are mostly delivered to mouths at outdoor biergarten events inspired by that country’s love for drinking outdoors.

Sure, there are some downsides to the outdoor experience. Bartenders in sunglasses. Flies. Red wine sweating in the sun.

And, glaring out from the calendar pages ahead, there’s the heat. It’s been a pretty moderate spring, but inevitably Columbia is going to get Famously Hot.

“The heat is going to be an issue,” admits Hendrix owner Sears. “We’re going to be putting up a sun sail over the bar, and umbrellas as well, and doing some sort of mister system. But it’s going to be toasty up there. We’re trying to get ahead of that.”

“The hotter months where we’ve done events have always gotten big turnouts somehow,” he notes — more than the cooler and rainy months.

But even Burgess draws the line somewhere: Bierkeller is taking the month of August off.

Ready to park your butt on a picnic bench? Here is a far-from-exhaustive list of some of the Midlands’ top spots to eat and drink outside. Yes, we left out Breakers. Let us know what else we missed: Email editor@free-times.com.

Hampton Street Vineyard

Hendrix

hendrixsc.com. Downtown: 1649 Main St., 803-834-5132. Big roof with a hopping bar — though you’ll have to go downstairs to order the fancier craft cocktails.

Hunter-Gatherer

huntergathererbrewery.com. Downtown: 900 Main St., 803-748-0540. Shandon/Rosewood: 1402 Jim Hamilton Blvd. Original brewpub location has sidewalk tables at which to scope out the South Main sights and eat excellent food. At Rosewood-area hangar and production brewery, the food offerings are more limited, but the outdoor spaces sure aren’t.

J’s Corner

Olympia: 1015 Rosewood Drive. The former Jaco’s is now an outdoor sports bar gameday paradise.

Jake’s

jakesofcolumbia.com. Five Points: 2112 Devine St., 803-708-4788. One of the first and the biggest bar gardens in the city. These days, Jake’s is known for being extremely dog friendly.

Publico Kitchen and Tap

River Rat Brewery

riverratbrewery.com. Stadium/Fairgrounds: 1231 Shop Rd., 803-724-5712. A rooftop bar, a covered deck with fans, a patio, and a big grassy area with cornhole and more — this is an outdoor drinker’s paradise.

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